Originally published: . Volume 3, No. 9. Source pages: 10, 11.
Dr. Charles Robertson 1951-2012
Dr. Charles Robertson, Assistant Professor of Psychology at McNeese State University, and licensed psychologist practicing clinical and neuropsychology in Lake Charles, passed away on March 9, 2012.
His involvement in all levels of the community characterized his continued willingness to help others, from stroke and head injury patients, to teaching crisis and hostage negotiations for police officers, to developing programs for battered women, to supervising students in their internships.
From the early 80s Dr. Robertson worked in independent practice at Lake Area Neuropsychology Associates in Lake Charles, Louisiana. He conducted psychological and neuropsychological assessments and interventions, helping patients with cognitive rehabilitation and chronic pain. He was qualified in clinical hypnosis and biofeedback.
During this time he served as the Director of the Neuropsychology/Behavioral Medicine Program for the Rehabilitation Center at the Lake Charles Memorial Hospital. He served on the staffs of Lake Charles Memorial, Christus St. Patrick and Charter Hospitals. He was affiliated with the Louisiana Department of Rehabilitation Services and the Louisiana Department of Mental Health.
In 2008 he joined the psychology faculty at McNeese State University where he served as Assistant Professor. Along with his teaching responsibilities he supervised interns in the masters program and also those serving in the McNeese Autism Program.
His research interests include auditory processing impairments following traumatic brain injury as well as the application of Applied Behavioral Analysis measures to restore function in this population.
McNeese Psychology Chair, Dr. Dena Matzenbacher, said to the Times, “We hired Dr. Robertson in 2008 to serve as director of the Kay Dore’ Counseling Clinic and to supervise our graduate practicum and internship students. He embraced these two roles with enthusiasm, and was also excited to get back into the classroom,” she noted. “Our graduate students loved him and regularly told me they valued his experience and his concern for their training and future careers. Faculty and staff in our department enjoyed his sense of humor, his positive-but-realistic attitude, and his willingness to tackle any task or situation we faced.”
Dr. Robertson worked also with the Louisiana State Police in their Crisis Intervention Team, a program to train officers for interactions with the mentally ill. He was a member of the Louisiana Association of Crisis Negotiators (LACN) and a member of the Hostage Negotiation Team for the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Department, where he was affectionately known as “Doc.”
Lt. Darek Ardoin of the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office noted, “‘Doc’ took an active part in the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's office Negotiations Team. He also played a huge role in teaching and overseeing role play in our Crisis Intervention Team, and 40-hour certification classes.”
Master Trooper Craig Rhodes, President of the LACN commended Dr. Robertson saying, “‘Doc’ was a true dedicated professional in his field. With his work in law enforcement and LACN, he proved his deep commitment to helping others and saving lives.”
He wrote, “Doc was a wealth of information in helping to defuse crisis situations and people in crisis with his background and knowledge in psychology. Even in those situations which he was not involved with nor were in his agency’s area of responsibility, Doc was there to help. He did this through his passing of skills and knowledge to negotiators around the state in his many informal discussions and during his many conferences he attended. He may have never known it, but those little discussions helped countless others safely deal with crisis situations by providing just a small piece of knowledge that was used when a crisis commenced. Doc was a true professional in every aspect of his life and it shown brightly with his dedication and work in the field of crisis negotiations.”
Dr. Robertson provided training for the Lake Charles Chapter of the Louisiana Head Injury Foundation, the Lake Charles Medical Auxiliary, and the Southwest Louisiana Business and Professional Women’s Association on topics of stress, traumatic stress, emergency events, and burn-out.
He trained members of the Southwest Louisiana Association of Emergency Medical Technicians and he was a staff trainer and founding board member of the Calcasieu Battered Women’s Shelter in Lake Charles.
He was a member of the American Psychological Association, the National Academy of Neuropsychology, and the International Neuropsychological Society. He was a member of the American Academy of Pain Management, American Academy of Pain Educators, and the Association of Applied Psychophysiology & Biofeedback.
He was also a member of the American Academy of Forensic Examiners and held the Diplomate from The American Board of Forensic Examiners and a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Neuropsychology. He served as Forensic Evaluator for the 14th Judicial District Court.
Born in Knoxville TN, “Chuck” grew up in Alexandria, and earned his bachelors in psychology from Louisiana Tech, masters from McNeese, and his doctorate from Florida Institute of Technology.
He loved music and in his spare time was a drummer for “Pool House Band,” He also produced music for other artists in his own recording studio.
Colleague Dr. Larry Dilks from Lake Charles, told the Times, “An exceedingly talented Renaissance man, scholar, artist, musician, humorist, practitioner, professor. He loved creating and producing music, seeing difficult patients, teaching graduate students, and consuming the world’s best alcoholic beverages. He did however hate writing reports.”
The Louisiana Association of Crisis Negotiators has created a scholarship fund named in “Doc’s” honor, which will help others receive this training, Master Trooper Rhodes, the President of LACN informed the Times.
McNeese Professor Dr. Cam Melville said, “Chuck was a colleague for twenty plus years. The last two years we were both faculty here at McNeese. Chuck was an informed optimist and an excellent problem solver. In his short time on the faculty he made important contributions helping us move our professional degree programs forward always placing the needs of students first. He was instrumental in helping to develop the McNeese Autism Program.”
Dr. Charles Robertson is survived by his beloved wife Sandy Nugent Robertson of Lake Charles, and, Sandy reminded the Times, by his sweet baby dog, Mia.
He is mourned by many friends, colleagues, officers and students.
Dr. Matzenbacker said, “He is dearly missed, and we will remember him always.”
File photo of McNeese faculty from 2009. Dr. Charles Robertson is second row, left. From L to R: Drs. Cam Melville; Charles Robertson; Jan Disney; Carl Bartling; Linda Brannon; Dena Matzenbacher; and (Photo courtesy Dr. Matzenbacher) Denise Arellano.
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